Exploring Factory Data for Resource Efficiency Assessment: A Case Study at a Truck Manufacturing Company

Book chapter, 2025

In the transition to circular economy, resource efficiency (RE) is at the intersection of environmental competitiveness and economic growth. However, studies found that industrial companies are struggling to use RE methods in daily operations as part of performance management beyond demonstrations in research projects. Both academia and industry need a better understanding about RE solutions in terms of their usability: production systems must be able to supply and manage good quality data. To close the knowledge gap, this chapter presents a feasibility study with a truck manufacturer focusing on processes to manufacture metal frame beam vehicle chassis. The feasibility study started both qualitatively and quantitatively with process mapping, material flow modelling, and energy efficiency analysis. The chapter presents findings from exploring and discussing data availability and quality to meet essential requirements for RE assessments. Besides proposing improvement actions to the case company, the chapter also recommends manufacturers perform a factory data evaluation before gathering additional data and working on specific RE indicators. Future collaborative studies with more manufacturers will help develop generalizable guidelines for factory data evaluation to support resource efficiency studies and sustainable manufacturing.